


Are you kitten me?

by Hyunjunlover_Deobi



Category: Hur Hyunjun, The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Cat Hybrid Hyunjun, Childhood Friends, Getting Together, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Mainly Haknyeon-centric, but very lightly, i think, no graphic scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyunjunlover_Deobi/pseuds/Hyunjunlover_Deobi
Summary: “Ah, shit! Eric, why is our new catch so heavy?” Sunwoo complained as he dragged the box with him. He had no idea of what’s inside it, except for the fact that  the overgrown box seemed to be a little bit overkill.“Stop complaining, Woo, just drag it here as quick as you can or we’re going to get caught. Chanhee-hyung can’t distract the guards forever and the others are already in the van.”
Relationships: Heo Hyunjoon | Hwall/Ju Haknyeon
Kudos: 17





	Are you kitten me?

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this almost six months ago and it's been one of many in my docs ever since. I edited it yesterday and I'm posting it here ^-^ This was a very impulsive decision, so forgive me for the quality. The title is an unrelated pun, except for the cat part.
> 
> Merry Christmas ^.^

“Ah, shit! Eric, why is our new catch so heavy?” Sunwoo complained as he dragged the box with him. He had no idea of what’s inside it, except for the fact that the overgrown box seemed to be a little bit overkill.

“Stop complaining, Woo, just drag it here as quick as you can or we’re going to get caught. Chanhee-hyung can’t distract the guards forever and the others are already in the van.”

“Then come help me instead of talking you buffoon, it’s too heavy for me alone.”

“Oh, are you too weak to drag it here?”, Eric teased, only to curse as he tried to push the box, “Jeez, what is this prized possession anyway? Should we just open the box to check if it’s worth it?”

“And get scolded by the others? No way, let them help us get it to the warehouse and then we’ll see. We really can’t help how slow we’re being this time.”

As if right on cue, a complaining Changmin entered the hallway they were trying to drag the box through, continuing to nag about how they shouldn’t get distracted by other things and just get to the fucking van, only to stop as he noticed the way the two were struggling, their faces red and sweat dripping down their foreheads. Realising nagging was going to get them nowhere, he asked Juyeon, Hyunjae and Sangyeon for backup, given that they were physically the strongest in the team.

As the six pushed and pulled the box to the van, more distractions were needed as they were exceeding the operation’s timeframe. It was very close, but they managed to get away without being caught, Haknyeon splitting off to do damage control with the witnesses, police etc.

“I really hope this ‘treasure’ was worth it”, Sangyeon complained, “We could’ve really gotten caught back there. But we didn’t so let’s see what was just so valuable.”

No one could have expected what was inside the box, after taking the lid off, they were met with a smaller metal cage containing a black blob.

“The fuck!” “Swear jar, Changmin.” “You’re no fun, Sangyeon-hyung.”

While the others were bickering, Hyunjae had approached the lump, noticing small movements. As he softly tugged at the black cloth covering the lump, he was met with a boy, a relatively small one with cat ears and a tail, but a boy nonetheless.

“Hey little one, are you alright?” A whine answered as the boy shivered, his tail curling around himself. “Are you cold? Yes? Let’s get you out of there, shall we?” Hyunjae remained gentle and at a distance as he picked the lock to the cage before settling at a small distance from the cage door, allowing the cat-boy some space. But no movement came from him except for a confused tilt of his head.

“You don’t want to come out?” he asked, but the boy shook his head. “Are you scared someone will hurt you?” A nod. “Is that why you don’t want to come out?” Another shake. “Can you come out?” Yet another shake. “Can you come out like is it physically possible?” A thoughtful head tilt. “Do you want me to come in?” A freeze. “To help you get out, will you let me in if I help you get out? I won’t hurt you, I promise, and the others won’t either.” Hyunjae said softly, the other nine agreeing easily yet remaining in the other corner of the room and they got a small, hesitant nod in return.

Really slowly, Hyunjae took away the rest of the cloth, revealing slightly ripped clothes and a collar, the buzzes of it indicating just how high-tech and expensive it must be. It might have had a tracker, but the warehouse blocked all signals from going in or out, so it wouldn’t do anything. Ears twitched and a tail swished with uncertainty as the boy curled in on himself, yet remained still as the other investigated the collar, looking for a way to take it off, or at least to get it detached from the rest of the cage.

After a little over five minutes of prodding, the tension in the room seemed to have risen an exponential amount, if the heavy breathing was any indication. It was only after Kevin and Younghoon had come to help that the collar was able to be detached from the cage, the biological lock (if that’s what it was, neither of them had any idea about the technology used for these collars) too complicated to open at the time.

The rest of Hyunjae’s evening was spent making sure the hybrid was clean and taken care of while keeping him away from anything harmful to him or the others, he hadn’t really opposed to being taken care of by anyone else but the pitiful whine he’d let out when Hyunjae left the room had softened the burglars a bit. Not that Hyunjae was able to do a lot for the boy, he seemed to reject practically everything he was offered and never spoke a word. He was only able to get him to clean what he could without taking off his clothes and eat a little food. The others were trying to find information about who the hybrid was and how he came to be, hybrid experiments had been shut down for over a decade now and no child had ever survived these according to all the restricted files they had hacked into. Not that it was that much, they really needed Haknyeon to work his magic on some policemen or gang members to get to the bottom of it, but he was still out doing damage control for the heist.

“Hey, damage control succeeded, I’m going to sleep when I get back so don’t bother waiting up for me ^-^” he texted, so no more info for the night Sangyeon assumed as he sent everyone to bed, the heist had been exhausting enough as is, the added stress of the hybrid siphoning their last bits of energy.

In the morning it all seemed like a weird dream, but the very much not entirely human ears peeking up from underneath the blanket on the floor in the empty storage room spoke the opposite. It was the only room with a window in the door for whatever reason the previous owner had put it there, allowing a view of the room from outside. But Sangyeon’s quiet morning thoughts got interrupted by yelling from upstairs.

“What do you mean there’s a hybrid and you didn’t tell me!”

“You were already asleep when we saw your text!”

“You could’ve woken me up!”

“Sunwoo and Haknyeon have been fighting for a while now, want me to shut them up?” Jacob offered as he sat down next to Sangyeon, back to the wall opposite to the storage room before pushing a cup of coffee in his hands.

“No need, there’s always someone arguing in the morning anyways.”

“I wasn’t talking about you, I was talking about the kitty.”

“So he’s a kitty now?” Sangyeon teased, noticing the fondness in Jacob’s expression, “You know we won’t be able to keep him, right? Once we find him a safe place he’ll have to leave, so don’t get too attached. We probably shouldn’t address him as a person if that’s the case. Anyway, let’s go control the children.”

“Ayay sir!”

“Seriously Jacob?”, followed by an exasperated sigh.

In the meantime, Haknyeon was trying to get info about the hybrid out of Sunwoo, actually out of everyone awake at the time, but Sunwoo was the one that slipped up about the hybrid and now they wouldn’t even tell him what kind he mixed with. He was really getting out of petty fighting territory and into actually angry and frustrated when Sangyeon came in. He looked a bit shocked at his state, cause while fights were normal, this level of frustration was one none of them had seen on the younger even once, only Sunwoo and Eric were familiar with it from his early days from before the trio joined the team. 

“We’d like you to get us some research about young hybrids so that we can get info about it and maybe something about high-tech collars while you’re at it, yes”, Sangyeon answered to Haknyeon asking about the hybrid, “but no, we’d like it if you stayed away from it, we still don’t know what side it’s even on.”

“He, hyung, the hybrid’s a person just like us, don’t call him an it.” The matter-of-fact tone the younger used was one very rarely used on the others and never without consequences.

“Haknyeon, show your elders some respect, we might be equal in terms of skills, but it doesn’t allow you to disrespect us.” Juyeon responded, asking for an apology as well.

“Why should I respect you when you don’t even respect a hybrid? Anyway, I won’t do the research if I’m not allowed to see the hybrid at least once, and besides that, seeing him would definitely speed up the process.”

“Just let Hak-hyung see him, Sangyeon-hyung”, Eric pouted, “it’s important to him.” As he added his puppy-eyes, Sangyeon could only sigh and give in. “Okay, Haknyeon is allowed to see him, but that’s all, no touching him or entering the storage room, are we clear?”

“Just let me see him already.”

“No, Haknyeon, are we clear?”

“Yes, we are, unless there are exceptional circumstances I’ll do as you say, and that’s as good as you’ll get. I’d also prefer to be alone with him.”

“You want me or Eric to come with you or not?” Sunwoo asked worriedly, the outburst from before still on his mind.

“No, I’m sorry, I’d rather not, but can you wait for u- me down the hall.”

“You think it’s him, don’t you, hyung?”

“I don’t know, I don’t even know if I want it to be him …”

“Well, you won’t know if you won’t see him, so shoo, go and check before you think yourself into a crisis. I believe in you hyung!”

“Okay, Eric, even though I don’t think that’s what you’re supposed to say”, Hak snorted before leaving the room, the two younger boys following him almost protectively.

As asked, Haknyeon entered the hallway by himself, his steps almost cautious as he walked to the window before letting out a wounded noise.

“I’m going in, don’t come in and don’t even think about stopping me. Sun, Ric, can you cover for me?”

“Yes, sir! Go save your kitty.” “What Eric said.” Hak snorted before picking the lock to the storage room.

“Hey, Hyunjunnie, that’s you, right?”

A small chirp came in response as the hybrid sat up, blanket falling from his frame and revealing the collar.

“Oh, Junnie, what have they done to you?” Haknyeon muttered more to himself than the boy as he inspected the collar after asking for permission. “Angel, I’m going to have to ask for help and need more equipment if I am to take it off. Do you mind if I leave for a while?”

The look of fear and despair on the boy’s face as he curled into himself even more than enough of a no for the Jeju boy as he lifted him up, frowning at how little he weighed, before properly carrying him bridal style.

“You need to put your hands around my neck sweetheart, I won’t mind, I don’t want to drop you.”

It was like that that the pair arrived where the others were, only for Haknyeon to walk right past them to their tech room.

“Eric, do we still have the bastard’s fingerprint? Can you please give it to me? And Sunwoo, get the first-aid kit from downstairs. Hyungs, please give us some space and if you’re going to try and talk me out of it, please leave the room, it won’t work.” He said, effectively shutting Juyeon, Sangyeon and Jacob up, the rest of them too perplexed by the sudden change in attitude from the sunshine to say anything.

It took them a while, but the three youngest worked well as a team in terms of getting rid of the collar and taking care of most bruises and cuts on the hybrid’s body. It seemed that the presence of Haknyeon had a positive effect on the hybrid, he had become more responsive, although the removal of the collar might have had an effect on that too, as they discovered it had technology that made it impossible to speak. Not that he was talking anytime soon, his voice mostly gone from the disuse and the aftereffects of the collar.

From what the hyungs had seemed to gather from little slip-ups from the two youngest and the behaviour of Haknyeon, it seemed as if he really knew the hybrid. He’d at least made it very clear that selling the hybrid or forcing him to leave without his and the hybrid’s approval was not done, even going as far as saying he’d leave the team if they did that and he appeared to be completely serious as he made the threat.

It was late in the afternoon when Haknyeon deemed the cat hybrid to be properly taken care of for the time being and dragged him to the living room where everyone else had been gathered in the meantime.

Needless to say, the hybrid cleaned up nicely. The bath, medical care and new clothes made colour return to his cheeks. He looked really adorable now, his clothes borrowed from Hyunjae resulting in sweater paws as well. The overall cute appearance and Haknyeon’s refusal to let him out of his lap ended up in an agreement to just let the boy stay until his background had been thoroughly researched. If they found any evidence that he might be a Trojan horse used by some sort of mob, he would be put in a witness protection program far away from everything, if not, he’d be allowed to stay but he’d have to make himself useful.

As hard as it was to find anything about hybrids before, Haknyeon hacked into a list about hybrids in the underground in under half an hour. They might have thought Hyunjun’s help might have had something to do with it, but he simply sat on the ground next to the older, head on his lap and tail curled around himself.

“I got a list, Hyunjunnie? Would you mind helping me understand it or are you not comfortable doing that?”

“I want to help, hyung, just …” The cat hybrid trailed off, tail swishing anxiously.

“Just … Oh, you want to sit in my lap?” The other only looked away with red ears before squeaking as he was pulled onto the older’s lap.

The hybrid's voice had come back for the most part, even though he wasn’t comfortable speaking out loud unless it was to Haknyeon and sometimes Hyunjae. The others had opted to ask one of them if they needed to know something or used yes-or-no questions as he had no qualms about nodding or shaking his head.

The two worked together to uncover the underground hybrid trafficking and results of testing and experiments. They uncovered a few failed experiments, the actual techniques used for creating hybrids lost a few decades ago together with the scientists who created them. Most recent experiments were focussed on the fertility of the already existing hybrids and cloning them. Almost all of them failed though. There were only about twenty hybrids born and created in the past twenty years, apparently resulting in a high price as the demand was still big.

After a lot of quiet discussing, it was decided that the other ten could stay as they researched, Hyunjun claiming that he trusted Haknyeon’s judgement on practically everything except certain foods. This statement got a laugh out of the others. It was because of this arrangement that they found out that the hybrid had been born out of the marriage of two freed hybrids, their owner’s son giving them freedom after inheriting them. The couple lived on Jeju Island, far away from the hybrid trade and such. Haknyeon’s parents were part of the community they lived in, a small village a little cut off from everything. Hyunjun had grown up there, being friends with Haknyeon, but he was homeschooled, his cat features too big of a risk to be shown in public. Hybrids were more of an urban legend or conspiracy theory than anything else, given that they were only owned by rich people who kept them a secret out of fear of them being stolen, hybrids were precious treasures after all.

Haknyeon had to go to a high school away from the island, where he met Sunwoo and Eric, but he went back every holiday. It was in his second year of high school that he got a call from the island, his mother calling him to inform him that Hyunjun had been taken and his father had been killed, his mother was in the hospital for a small operation at the time and had stayed safe. Haknyeon had apparently broken down at the reception after getting the call, telling Sunwoo and Eric everything.

When the three had run into the hyungs, they were trying to gather intel about hybrids in the underground, they had a pretty good lead, but the others had destroyed it in their mission to steal some of their drugs in an attempt to cut their supply. It pretty much explained his anger when they offered him a spot on the team. Justified anger as well, as Hyunjun confirmed he had been in the building at the time, it was the day before he was sold for the first time after all. This caused some of the others to feel guilty, as they had ignored his anger as a childish tantrum.

Hyunjun’s hybrid name turned out to be Hwall, he had been in the possession of a few families over the years, all of them having different functions for him. The first had trained him in the martial arts, his dancing ability and feline instincts apparently very much wanted in training assassins, but they ended up selling him after he finished his training, before ever sending him out to kill anyone. His second owner was much the same, but he trained him to be more seductive to mislead his victims. He’d apparently learned pole dancing as well, this got Kevin to choke on his water. The other owners just used him as a companion or a pet, the words left a vile taste in their mouths. It sounded so dehumanising.

As it were, no criminal connections were found, so Hyunjun was allowed to stay. He’d try to heal up and then they’d see what he still knew from his first two owners and determine his spot on the team. In the course of a week, everyone had started addressing him as a person, no more it/its being used. They went shopping for him, as he didn’t perfectly fit anyone’s clothes, but that was a little bit of a disaster. The hybrid turned out to have an eye for fashion, to Chanhee’s joy and their shopping companions Eric, Haknyeon and Jacob’s despair. Fashion became their grounds for bonding as Chanhee and Hyunjun hit up different shops and exchanged outfit ideas. Turns out, Hyunjun rambles when he’s excited, much to the others’ adoration.

Six months later, Hyunjun had opened up a lot more and was mentally and physically mostly okay. He sometimes went on missions, his enhanced senses and quick reflexes came in really useful, as well as his pole dancing skills, they were useful for distractions at a club and pickpocketing. He really started to fit in, they’d erased his existence as Hwall wherever they could, resulting in the boy being free again. He’d gotten tattoos to cover everything up and Haknyeon ended up having a really really big crush on him. It actually came as no surprise, given their interactions when they were younger, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. The cheeky smiles, easy flirting and the outfits that should not look that hot or cute were not helping, nor was Sunwoo and Eric’s teasing once they figured it out. The older members were a little nicer about it at least, mostly encouraging him to confess.

Now was not the time for that train of thought though. Hyunjun and Haknyeon were on their way back to Jeju. It had been a few years for Haknyeon, ever since he started his semi-legal vigilante burglar thing with Eric and Sunwoo before joining the team and even longer for Hyunjun, who had really missed his mother.

Once back on Jeju, they inconspicuously found their way to the village. It was like stepping into a bubble, it seemed like nothing had changed. The houses still looked the same, the old ladies looked just as old, the plants were all healthy. Haknyeon felt out of place and he could see Hyunjun did too, as he shifted awkwardly between both feet, tail swishing nervously and ears on alert.

“I can hear your mom, hyungie.” The statement was soft and the only warning he got before he was hugged fiercely. His mother was so busy muttering about her son being out doing dangerous stuff and growing up and how much she missed him that she failed to notice Hyunjun watching them with an amused smile, tail and ears relaxed.

“I love you too, mom. I’m sorry for worrying you”, Haknyeon pouted.

“It’s okay, my dear, I know you mean well and I support you in all your endeavours sweetie. Now who do you have- Hyunjun? That’s you? How? When? We’ve got to tell your mother.” As she was rambling, she pulled the younger boy into a hug before gently dragging him along, softly patting his ears in the process.

Hyunjun’s reunion with his mother was rather calm, as they silently curled into one another and did cat things, Haknyeon had no clue what it was they were doing. Later that day, there was a village wide dinner where everyone caught up with each other. They told about their heists, exciting the little kids, and what happened with Hyunjun. In return, they were told about the births and deaths, who went to which college and what they studied, which crops were growing well this year. It was a pleasant night for everyone. In the following week, they relaxed into the village’s routine. Being in his home ground, Hyunjun’s playfulness returned tenfold. He was constantly teasing Haknyeon, his mother or anyone else in the village, but it was harmless so no one really cared. They were just happy their kitty was back.

Looking at the village’s central clearing, Haknyeon saw Hyunjun playing hide and seek with a few of the kids, ears poking out from behind a rock on purpose, tail soon joining. It made him reminisce what got them here. Haknyeon’s primary purpose had always been finding Hyunjun, it was the only reason he had joined the team. He didn’t really enjoy it or the stress, but Hyunjun had been worth it. It was strange, really, how much Hyunjun meant to him and influenced his decisions. Without him, Haknyeon had no idea what his life would have looked like. He loved him. The realisation wasn’t sudden or panic-inducing. He’d known it all along, but never dared to consciously consider it. He could tell Hyunjun was more relaxed here, no matter what happened, this was their home turf. Haknyeon’s daydreams always led to growing old with Hyunjun in the village, no matter what. He didn’t see the appeal in living in a city or something like that like most other people. This simple place was what he loved. It seemed to be on the edge between real and magical, the outside world didn’t seem to exist.

What Haknyeon didn’t know was that Hyunjun felt the same way as he played with the kids and observed Haknyeon watching them. He even got distracted enough that one of the smallest children needed to pull his tail for his attention.

At midnight, there was to be a meteor shower. Every villager went to watch it, whether it be in the villager’s centre, a treehouse or on their own roof. Hyunjun and Haknyeon were watching it together, settled on their hill, as they had dubbed it as children. They laid side by side, holding hands.

“Haknyeonie-hyung? If I asked you to stay, would you?” The meteor shower had ended, but Hyunjun was still looking at the stars, his side profile illuminated by the moon.

“I would. I was thinking the same thing, actually.” This got Hyunjun to sit up and look at him, Haknyeon following suit.

Hyunjun came closer and curled into the other, soft smile on his lips as he laced their fingers together. “Hyung, I love you”, he spoke the words with such certainty and yet so soft it shocked Haknyeon as he looked to where the other’s face was, his head on his shoulder.

“And I love you.” No more words were needed as they fell asleep, cuddling beneath the stars. Their mothers went to cover them with a blanket. Hyunjun’s mom had heard everything and relayed it to Haknyeon’s mom. They smiled, they had known this all along, but had allowed them to take their time.

Three days later, they had their first kiss. Hyunjun had spontaneously kissed the older as they were picking strawberries, both their lips red from sneakily eating some of them. It caused some cheering from the villagers around them, who had been routing for the couple all along. The changes came natural. The occasional kissing, the handholding, cuddling, pet names, it just happened. When their two week stay had ended, the couple didn’t want to leave. They talked about it and figured out they both wanted to stay and not go back to what they were doing in Seoul.

They packed and went on their way, saying goodbye to everyone in the village. Once in Seoul, they reconvened with the others and informed them of their decision. It caused quite a ruckus, but seeing how happy the two of them looked, it was the best option for them. The goodbye was tearful after spending a last week as a team, relaxing and doing stuff they liked. Everyone promised to stay in touch and meet up once a year.

Everyone held their word, even though Kevin and Jacob went back to Canada and started teaching at an elementary school and the others split up and got different jobs all over Seoul, some of them remaining in pairs, like Sunwoo and Eric. Once a year, they’d all meet up in Seoul and spend a week together, and once a month, they all held a video chat.

Haknyeon is happy, as he watches Hyunjun curled up in front of the fire, a small kitten plushie Changmin had gifted him in his embrace. He himself was holding a cup of hot chocolate with too many marshmallows. He knew Hyunjun thought the same as he uncurled himself and settled on the couch, head on his lap, and held his hand, giving small kisses all over it.

“I love you, hyungie.”

“And I love you, love.” The pet name made the younger blush as he hid his face in Haknyeon’s hoodie. Haknyeon really was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas ^o^  
> I hope you liked it :D


End file.
